MILLENNIUM PARK — The organizers of a new outdoor New Year's Eve party along the Chicago River are also hosting a free skate in advance.
Skate rentals will be free from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 31 at Millennium Park as part of a "Kids Countdown Spectacular" in advance of the Chi-Town Rising New Year's Eve festival, according to NBC5, one of the event's sponsors.
The free skate is one of several activities surrounding the unprecedented riverfront festival, which will be capped by fireworks and a star rising up the Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 E. Wacker Drive, as guests ring in 2016.
Navy Pier and the Howells & Hood bar, 435 N. Michigan Ave., are also hosting special events surrounding the festival.
A map of the festivities. [Chi-Town Rising]
The free skate rentals are limited, so guests are encouraged to arrive early. The festival, aimed at becoming a Chicago counterpart to New York's famed Times Square celebration, will headline bands Chicago and American Authors on both sides of the river leading up to the new year.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
